Ricerc@Sapienza

BACKGROUND: Most studies suggest that immigrant youth are more likely to be victimized than their non-immigrant counterparts. In Italy, a country in which the number of foreign migrants has grown exponentially over recent decades, this line of research is particularly interesting. Thus, the main objective of the present study was to examine the relationship between peer victimization, gender, and immigrant status in a large sample of students.

Although previous research on peer victimization has focused on school-aged children and adolescents, interest in peer victimization in preschool children has significantly grown in recent decades. The present study examined the role of temperament traits and social functioning in children’s peer victimization, taking into account the moderating effects of gender, immigrant status, and sympathy. Participants were 284 preschool children (141 girl, 143 boy) between the ages of 30 and 76 months (Mmonths = 57.21, SD = 10.49).